1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card display, and more particularly, to a display frame for mounting and displaying individual cardholders for baseball cards or other similar pictures.
2. Summary of Related Art
Baseball cards have been collected for a number of years. When the cards were initially issued, the cards were collected by young boys as a hobby. In recent years, baseball cards have become a major hobby and/or business for both children and adults, with many baseball card collections now being worth thousands of dollars. Baseball cards are traded in sport specialty shops and card shows throughout the country.
Baseball cards are made from a thin card board which is easily bent or disfigured. It is important to protect baseball cards from damage by exposure to the elements or by periodic handling. A well preserved baseball card is worth more to a collector, both in terms of personal satisfaction and monetary value.
As the popularity of baseball card collection and the value of the individual baseball cards has increased, collectors began to keep their baseball cards in special clear plastic cardholders. One of the first cardholder cases for baseball cards was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,001 to Hurley. The two piece construction was provided with a snap fit to protectively seal the baseball card.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,629 to Hager shows a cardholder with additional spacing about the card to limit damage to the card once the card is enclosed in the cardholder.
In the last two years, there have been several improvements to the cardholders. U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,673 to Connor et al discloses a card holder with special recesses and mating protrusions to facilitate convenient stacking of the cardholders. The cardholders can also be fitted with a bracket to support the cardholder in an upright position for displaying the single card in the cardholder.
The cardholder in U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,450 to Rademacher provides a snap fit enclosure with close tolerances to seal the card. A notch is provided to permit the separation of the front and back sections of the cardholder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,600 to Neugebauer discloses a cardholder with a special base having a lip extending around the periphery of the base. The lip forms a pocket for receiving a card. The cover includes a snap fit to seal the card between the base and the cover of the cardholder.
As the popularity of baseball card collecting and trading has increased, a need has developed for a display means to display and exhibit the baseball cards in the cardholders. The cardholders with baseball cards are typically maintained in a storage box designed to store the cardholders. In order to view or display the baseball card in the cardholder, the cardholder must be removed from the storage box and held by the viewer or placed on a table or other display surface.
Baseball card collectors desire a display means which can be used to display cards in a safe and attractive wall mounting or display stand. Baseball card traders desire a display means which facilitates the display of the cards to attract potential buyers and permits quick and easy access to baseball cards in cardholders.
In a card store or at a trade show, vendors and traders desire a means for displaying the desired cards for sale. Buyers like to view the card and inspect both sides of the card before buying the card. Such stores and shows also have a number of people who might like to handle the cards, but are not really interested in buying the cards. Vendors require a means for displaying the cards whereby the cards remain in the cardholders for protecting the cards.
Special collector's albums and display plaques have been designed for use by baseball card collectors. U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,616 discloses a diamond shaped plaque with nine cardholders for receiving and holding baseball cards. The cardholder is an integral part of the display plaque and a separate cover snaps over the integral base of the cardholder to protect the card. When an individual card is to be inspected in detail or read on the back of the card, the card must be handled to remove the card from the cardholder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,574 shows a binder having a plurality of pockets to receive collectible display items, such as baseball cards. Pockets are formed within the display pages for insertion of the baseball card. A transparent lid or cover is snapped in place to retain the card. The pages of the album are also made from transparent plastic to permit viewing the card from both front and back without having to remove the card from the pocket.
In addition to baseball cards, the cardholders are used for storing and protecting cards for other sports and for musicians/entertainers. Such cards could obviously be placed in a cardholder and then mounted in the cardholder for display purposes.
Cardholders have also been used to preserve and protect regular photographs that might typically be mounted in a photo album. Photographs, such as school pictures, could also be used in the cardholders.